Originating from Buffalo, New York (USA)), 33 years ago, Cannibal Corpseone of the main and at the same time most controversial bands of Death Metal released his third album, Tomb of the Mutilated.
This album continued the formula of its predecessor. Butchered at Birth but consolidating it, thus ending up giving the band a sound identity forged in their previous work.
It is a matter of exactly 32 years ago, a September 22, 1992that Cannibal Corpse released their third studio album, which is nothing more and nothing less than one of the most controversial albums of the band and the Death Metal, Tomb of the Mutilated And yes, it is controversial not only for its art but for its lyrics, which we will refer to later.
Originally from Buffaloand considered today one of the heavyweights of Death Metal released the aforementioned album under the label Metal Blade Records in the same way as it has done with its predecessors Eaten back to life and Butchered at Birthonce again featuring production from the legendary Scott Burns and recorded in the well-known Morrisound Studios in Tampa, Florida of the June 1-15 from the year of release.
When we talk about the discography of Cannibal Corpseit is common to refer to two stages, the first with Chris Barnes in the voices and a second stage with George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher in its position, and the differences between both stages not only at a vocal level but also compositional and lyrical, and in the case of the present one we refer to the era of Chris Barnes which was characterized by being absolutely visceral in all areas.
The more aggressive sound that was adapted in Butchered at Birthfor Tomb of the Mutilated It becomes more elaborate in its compositions and slightly more refined in its instrumentation, but still maintaining that viscerality and putrefaction that characterized these first albums. Eaten Back to Life had shades of Thrash Metal absolutely rotten and in Butchered at Birth They opted for greater brutality, more power and a not at all skimpy graphic violence in their lyrics not suitable for those with weak stomachs if they are imagined graphically and in Tomb of the Mutilated this goes along the same lines.
In Tomb of the Mutilated The band’s identity was completely defined and with a proposal that remains extremely graphic in its lyrics as in its predecessor, thus giving rise to one of the most controversial albums of Death Metalgoing to the extreme again in the lyrics again not suitable for sensitive stomachs (while here we are eating while writing the article and graphically imagining the lyrics hahaha)
If the insane predecessor was already aggressive, extremely visceral and rotten, in Butchered at Birth It all becomes even more sickly, and if Eaten Back to life had shades of Thrash Metal totally rotten, at present the band is betting on even more brutality and consolidating its sound, even more aggressive, better produced, the voice of Chris Barnes sounds even more powerful and does not skimp on extreme graphic violence when writing his lyrics, in fact he has never skimped during his stay in Cannibal Corpsegiving us the most twisted lyrics the band has ever had, even if one imagines them graphically and has a sensitive stomach, one can easily be left with a stomach ache.
Its cover is not free of controversy either and once again Vincent Locke is in charge of it, where the rotting corpse of a woman with outstretched arms and open entrails is found outside a grave as well as the corpse of a man also in decomposition practicing cunnilingus while next to it appears a decomposed head with candles (the latter was later used as the cover of the EP Hammer Smashed Face). What is seen on the cover then makes reference to the song Addicted to Vaginal Skin.
Due to the graphic content of the cover and the censorship that exists, a censored version of it had to be released with a zombie watching the sexual scene from the original cover, which is not seen here, only the dead woman’s hand.
This third album also comes loaded with classics from the band such as the well-known Hammer Smashed Face, I Cum Blood either Addicted to Vaginal Skin as well as the one for its controversial name Necropedophileand in its 39 minutes of duration we will appreciate the same formation of its predecessor with Jack Owen and Bob Rusay brutally executing with its 6 strings its violent and sick riffs accompanied by the insane drums of Paul Mazurkiewiczwho goes for it right and left and always guided by the magnificent bass of Alex Webster and his peculiar way of playing and to this day the only original member of the band and Chris Barnes Well, more than twisted and unhealthy doing its thing, achieving with this a masterpiece of Death Metal and for many the band’s best work.
The opening is the well-known Hammer Smashed Face, its iconic lines kick off the sonic carnage that is Tomb of the Mutilated with the first drum beats of Mazurkiewicz and the guitars of Owen and Rusay. Tum tum tum turutum tum tum turututututututum, iconic beginning followed by a magnificent bass line and Barnes announcing what is going on in his head.There’s something inside me It’s, it’s coming out I feel like killing you Let loose the anger, held back too long My blood runs cold» (There’s something inside me It’s, it’s coming out I feel like killing you Release the anger, held back for too long My blood runs cold) speaking of a person who has something coming out of him that leads him to kill by crushing his victim’s head while pieces of skull are splattered by the brutality exerted.
Another classic follows, the brutal I Cum Blood, loaded with musical insanity as well as lyrics and vocals enough to make you shake your head as much as possible. Brutal but at times denser as the protagonist tells that he is only excited by having sex with corpses, a clearly necrophile and a product of that paraphilia as he ejaculates blood when throwing himself at the corpses of women who began to decompose because they were not excited alive and only in this way does he satisfy his sexual desires and with cheers he can only mutilate, rape and kill. “Fucking the rotting My semen is bleeding The smell of decay Seeps from her genital cavity” this stanza gives a clear notion of what it is about.
Addicted to Vaginal Skinwell another song as sick as the previous one and right from the start what you hear before the song starts is the confession of a murderer about the vagina of his victim «I don’t know I just took that knife And I cut her from her neck Down to anus And I cut out the vagina And I ate it» (I don’t know, I just took that knife and cut her from her neck, went down to her anus and then cut her vagina and ate her.) you already have an idea of what the subject is about throughout its completely insane brutality.
Split Wide Open It is another brutal subject not without good imagination, people open to the environment while they are laboratory rats for experiments describing this with many boys and girls used in this way, children opened to the middle and even being rats with chemicals and other experiments that can be tortuous. Cannibal Corpse because it doesn’t give even the slightest respite, not at all.
The insane violence continues with one of the most controversial issues, Necropedophilea completely unhealthy topic and incapable of giving any respite. Not for the auditory carnage that Cannibal Corpse present here and if I Cum Blood I already made references to necrophilia, so you can imagine the victims of the necrophile protagonist of this topic and what kind of corpses he likes to throw himself at once he kills them.I was once a man before I transformed into this molester, freshly deceased children You have been born, torn by my rape The dead are not safe, the lifeless child corpse I will violate» (I was once a man before I turned into this abuser, newly deceased children You were born, torn apart by my rape The dead are not safe, the corpse of a lifeless child I will rape).
Here the protagonist is one of the most atrocious that can exist, and thank goodness it is only art that Cannibal Corpse does and not something real, this type of crime is one of the worst that can exist without a doubt, more serious than any other.
Topics such as The Cryptic Stench They certainly motivate you to shake your head to the beat of the twisted guitars of Owen and RusayIt has great riffs that can lead you to a relaxing headbanging and why not a mosh where everything becomes fierce.
This was followed by Entrails ripped from a Virgin’s Cuntand the audio carnage continues. Extremely fast drum cuts that get you right into the theme, Barnes tries to take his voice to the most extreme levels and they are an excellent example of the technical level they can reach and how extreme they can be and this technical level serves as an indication of the direction the band would take years later, which would be with a Death Metal more technical.
Post Mortal Ejaculationthe penultimate song has a more Thrasher but sickly entrance and may perhaps be a song somewhat different from the previous ones, but despite these details, due to the more Thrash-like air that the song has, it may also be somewhat of a traveler when heard, with a song full of savagery but in a darker instrumental connotation where they are seen completely furious.
To close, there is Beyond The Cemetery with a sea of riffs that follow a certain line maintained in their debut album Eaten Back to Life but more adapted to the line of Tomb of the Mutilated making this song an amalgam of their first album and the third at the moment with a song that perhaps is not the easiest to digest but still gives a good closing to this great work.
Tomb of the Mutilated took the sound of its predecessor, which ended up defining the sound and identity of the band, polishing it in a better way while maintaining the standards of brutality and insanity that they had been offering. In addition to being an essential album of the band, it is an album of utmost importance in the Death Metal from the early 90s, considered by many to be the band’s best album.
ALBUM FUN FACTS AND DATA:
-The CD was produced by legendary producer Scott Burns at Morrisound Studios.
-It was released by Metal Blade Records
-The phrase at the beginning of Addicted to Vaginal Skin corresponds to the serial killer Arthur Shawcross (1945 – 2008), better known as “Genesee River Killer”.
-Its sale was banned in Germany until June 2006.
-In Germany they were allowed to sell them but they couldn’t play their songs.
-In its censored edition, it was distributed with the disc wrapped in white butcher paper and the title in red ink.
-Their current reissues contain a live version of I Cum Blood as a bonus track with Corpsegrinder on vocals
TRACKLIST:
Hammer Smashed Face 04:02
I Cum Blood 03:40S
Addicted to Vaginal Skin 03:29
Split Wide Open 03:01
Necropedophile 04:05
The Cryptic Stench 03:57
Entrails Ripped from a Virgin’s Cunt 04:14
Post Mortal Ejaculation 03:35
Beyond the Cemetery 04:52
